Meet our Health Experts

Mount Sinai Speakers and Featured Guests at Aspen Ideas 2025

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS

Chief Executive Officer
Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair
Mount Sinai Health System

Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer and the Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair, Mount Sinai Health System, is a nationally recognized leader in academic medicine and health policy.

Dr. Carr leads as a physician-scientist. He completed his residency in emergency medicine, as well as fellowships in trauma and surgical critical care and in health policy research. In addition to clinical practice, he maintained a decades-long funded research portfolio and served in multiple policy roles within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is a renowned physician, mentor, and delivery system strategist. His focus is on harnessing expertise and using data to build high-functioning teams in order to improve health care delivery.

Dr. Carr is advancing Mount Sinai’s capacity to conduct groundbreaking research, pioneer innovative care, and provide a world-leading education to future health care leaders. He guides Mount Sinai’s strategy, operations, and business development, including the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, Mount Sinai’s nationally and regionally ranked hospitals, and more than 400 ambulatory locations and physician practices.

Dr. Carr previously held faculty roles at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and graduated from the Temple University School of Medicine.

Allison Applebaum, PhD
Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Director of the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Allison Applebaum is a care-giving scientist, writer, researcher, speaker, and advocate. She is a Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and the Director of the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

She was previously the Founding Director of the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the first program of its kind in the United States to provide comprehensive psychosocial care to family members and friends of patients who are in the caregiving role. Dr. Applebaum’s program of research focuses on the development and dissemination of supportive services for family caregivers. She has published more than 100 articles, reviews, and book chapters on these topics, and is the editor of the textbook Cancer Caregivers (Oxford University Press, 2019). Dr. Applebaum has received competitive funding for her research, including awards from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the American Cancer Society. She is also the author of the recently published narrative nonfiction book Stand By Me: A Guide to Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving (Simon Element, 2024).

Zahi A. Fayad, PhD
Lucy G. Moses Professor of Medical Imaging and Bioengineering
Vice Chair for Research in Radiology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute
Zahi A. Fayad, PhD, is the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Medical Imaging and Bioengineering at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he also serves as Vice Chair for Research in Radiology. He is the founding Director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute, home to one of the nation’s top National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded radiology programs (No. 2 in 2024 per Blue Ridge rankings).

Dr. Fayad is Principal Investigator on multiple major grants, including five NIH-funded projects (3 R01s, 2 P01s), with support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A leader in biomedical engineering, his interdisciplinary research integrates artificial intelligence (AI), imaging, and nanomedicine to advance precision medicine, particularly in cardiovascular disease.

He has been a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher since 2018, with more than 174,000 citations and an h-index of 137. Notable contributions include MRI vessel-wall imaging (leading to CARADS), FDG PET imaging of vascular inflammation, and uncovering links between amygdala activity, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk. His research on nanoparticles based on HDL (“good” cholesterol) to modulate immunity is advancing toward clinical use in cancer, autoimmune diseases, and transplant rejection.

Current projects span cardiovascular, neuroimmune, and transplant-focused research, including stress-induced immune dysregulation; MVP and arrhythmia risk; CUD-related carotid atherosclerosis and cognition; cardiac sarcoidosis therapy monitoring; and immune tracking in organ rejection using nanobiologics.

Dr. Fayad also leads the Mount Sinai DigiTwin Project, an AI-driven initiative to personalize health optimization by integrating real-time data, imaging, and analytics—starting with cardiovascular health and expanding to broader wellness applications.

Robbie Freeman, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN
Chief Digital Transformation Officer
Mount Sinai Health System
Robbie Freeman, DNP, MBA, MSN, RN, is the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at the Mount Sinai Health System, where he leads enterprise-wide strategies to integrate digital products, artificial intelligence, and informatics into clinical operations. His work focuses on improving outcomes for patients, empowering care teams, and enhancing the digital experience for employees across the Health System. A recognized innovator in health care, Dr. Freeman was named to Healthcare Innovation magazine’s “40 Under 40” list for his contributions to advancing digital health. He holds a doctorate from Yale University, where his research focused on using digital solutions to reduce health disparities and expand access to care. He also earned a master’s degree from NYU’s Stern School of Business and is a proud graduate of the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, where he now serves on the Board of Trustees. In addition to his leadership role, Dr. Freeman is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Health Administration at New York Univeristy, where he teaches graduate coursework in health care analytics.
Nicholas Gavin, MD, MBA, MS
Vice President, Chief Clinical Innovation Officer
Associate Chief Medical Information Officer
Mount Sinai Health System
Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Nicholas Gavin, MD, MBA, MS, is Vice President, Chief Clinical Innovation Officer, and Associate Chief Medical Information Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Gavin is leading a newly formed team with a goal to identify and test how the delivery system can be redesigned. His focus includes shifting inpatient care to the ambulatory or home setting, partnering with tech companies that seek to use the Health System as a learning laboratory, and bring rigor to how it tests delivery system innovations. He strives to create these innovations internally or through partnership with external entities by applying behavioral economics principles and data-driven insights to optimize patient and provider decision-making.
Brian H. Kopell, MD
Director of the Center for Neuromodulation
Co-Director of The Bonnie and Tom Strauss Movement Disorders Center
Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Brian H. Kopell, MD, is an authority in neurosurgery and neuromodulation, dedicated to advancing brain health. As Director of the Center for Neuromodulation, Co-Director of The Bonnie and Tom Strauss Movement Disorders Center, and a Professor of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, he has contributed significantly to the field of Deep Brain Stimulation. Dr. Kopell pioneered intraoperative imaging to enhance safety and efficiency, and was the first to record dopamine and serotonin in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex in a human. He earned his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his MD from NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He trained in Neurosurgery at NYU Langone Health, followed by specialized fellowships in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at New York University, the University Hospital in Zurich, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospital in Ankara, Turkey. He also served as Chief Medical Officer of Northstar Neuroscience, a NASDAQ-listed company that developed cortical brain stimulation implants for stroke rehabilitation, tinnitus, and major depression. He holds editing positions at World Neurosurgery and Medscape.com, and is the Chief Neurological Consultant on the Medical Commission of Enhanced Games, an organization dedicated to advancing athlete health and performance.
Sarah E. Millar, PhD
Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Dean for Basic Science at the Black Family Stem Cell Institute
Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Gene and Cell Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Millar is Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Black Family Stem Cell Institute and Dean for Basic Science of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is the Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Gene and Cell Medicine. Dr. Millar heads the research efforts in regenerative medicine and stem cells at Mount Sinai and oversees the School’s basic science programs.

Dr. Millar has made seminal discoveries on the mechanisms controlling development and regeneration of skin and hair. Her current research directions include investigating how stem cell activity is altered in skin aging; delineating the mechanisms that cause differences in the appearance, function, and disease susceptibility of skin in different body regions; and deciphering the molecular and cellular basis for acute and long-term loss of smell in COVID-19.

Dr. Millar is an Editorial Board member of Developmental Cell and Experimental Dermatology and a Deputy Editor of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, and has served on numerous national and international grant review committees. She has received awards in recognition of her research that include a National Institutes of Health MERIT Award and the William Montagna Lectureship Award of the Society for Investigative Dermatology, of which she is President-elect.

Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, CPH

Chair of Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health
Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health

Girish N. Nadkarni, MD, MPH, CPH, is a physician-scientist, clinical informaticist, and a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and precision medicine. He is currently the Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine, and the Chair of the Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and the Director of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Health at Mount Sinai. Dr. Nadkarni has spearheaded transformative and translational research leading to 375 original peer-reviewed research and 55 invited publications with over 40,000 citations and an h-index of 93. His work has advanced many fields, including precision medicine. He has co-founded companies that pioneered AI-based approaches, which received FDA clearance. He is principal investigator for eight concurrent R01 grants or equivalents, three industry contracts, and two NIH contracts for a cumulative amount of approximately $45 million. He holds numerous patents on AI applications in health care and co-invented the first FDA-approved AI bioprognostic for kidney disease; is Associate Editor of npj Digital Medicine; and has received several honors, including the Harold Lamport Clinical Research Award.
Sanjai Sinha, MD, FACP
Internal Medicine Physician
Dr. Sinha is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency at the New York University School of Medicine. Over his 20+ years in academic medicine, he has published a variety of academic articles focused on improving patient outcomes, including discharge from the hospital, health literacy, and systemic barriers. He has received numerous awards and honors, including a national commendation for relief work during Hurricane Katrina.
Before joining the premier provider team at The Health Center at Hudson Yards, Dr. Sinha practiced at Weill Cornell/New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he focused on both patient care and teaching medical students and residents. His extensive medical experience also includes conducting research, caring for New York City’s most vulnerable populations, and participating in quality improvement projects. Dr. Sinha is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and is board certified in Internal Medicine. He has consistently been named to New York Magazine’s Top Doctors list.

In his free time, Dr. Sinha enjoys running, playing tennis, watching his sons play soccer and perform on stage, and taking long walks with his dog, Gonzo.

Lisa S. Stump, BSPharm, MS, FASHP
Chief Digital Information Officer
Mount Sinai Health System
Dean for Information Technology
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Lisa S. Stump, BSPharm, MS, FASHP, is Chief Digital Information Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and Dean for Information Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Ms. Stump is an esteemed leader in health care, technology, and innovation. She is committed to transforming health care through digital advancements and data-driven solutions. She spent over a decade honing her skills as a clinical pharmacist and pharmacy leader before transitioning to health IT and digital health. A distinguished alumna of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy and The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, Ms. Stump is a Fellow of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and serves as the inaugural chair of the ASHP Section of Digital and Telehealth Practitioners. She has led the implementation and integration of numerous clinical, financial, and business systems and partnered in the co-development of solutions with innovative companies to optimize digital and data strategies. She has played a pivotal role in the development of a state-wide health information exchange for New York, fostering collaboration and connectivity to enhance health outcomes across communities.

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Aspen Ideas: Health

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